Chapter Text
"Oh my God. I can't take this anymore".
Virgil was sitting in the drive seat of the big blue SUV, his legs restless. He was fidgeting for the tension, while talking to his brother. Turk was outside, standing near Virgil's car window, open to allow the talking between the two of them.
"Don't worry, answered Turk. "Everything is going to be okay".
"How do you know that?"
"We have a deal, remember?"
For the entire conversation, the Malloy brothers were watching right in front of them, where, at fifteen feet of distance, Rusty and Danny were standing and waiting. Two black duffel bags were on the ground next to them.
"I know that we have a deal, but what if..."
"Shut up," said Turk. "A car is coming".
It was true. A long, black Mercedes was coming into view.
"Oh God", whimpered Virgil.
The car stopped at few feet from Rusty and Danny, and a big man in a suit came out. He talked to Danny and Rusty for a few minutes, they gestured towards the duffel bags; and then the man made a gesture towards other people inside the black car.
"There it is," murmured Turk. Virgil couldn't speak.
That was the moment that they had waited for a week, since Linus disappeared.
He was doing a recon, and the bad guys recognized him from another job, and kidnapped him. Probably they knew he would have people ready to pay for his ransom. And he had. For every moment of that long week they had worked in establish a contact with the kidnappers, in cutting deals after deals. They didn't care about the job anymore; they only wanted the kid back, alive and in one piece. And now the back door opened, and Linus came out. Virgil straighten up on the seat. "How is he?" he asked Turk.
"I don't know... but he's walking. That's a good sign".
And Linus was walking, his hands tied behind his back, for the feet that separated him from Rusty and Danny, while the big man in black and another guy were taking in the car the two duffel bags full of money.
Suddenly, while the black car slowly started leaving, Linus lost his balance and fell right in the arms of Rusty, who hugged him close while Danny untied his hands. Then the three of them started walking again towards the car, Danny and Rusty supporting Linus.
"Okay, let's go," said Turk, opening the back doors, while Virgil started the engine. Rusty, Linus and Danny sat in the back, while Turk sat next to Virgil, who quickly left the abandoned parking lot, driving a little too fast to reach the main street as soon as possible.
There was no reason to rush, the bad guys left; but well, you never know with those people.
Turk turned to look at Linus. He had a large bruise on a cheek, he was pale and even skinnier than usual, and he kept a hand at a weird angle. He was shaking.
"Hey, man! It's so good to see you! How are you?"
Linus was silent for a moment, and then smiled a little. "I think I can say I'm fine, considered everything. But I think my hand is broken".
"We already called Stan," said Danny in a suave and calming voice. "He's waiting at the house to see you".
Linus nodded.
The rest of the trip was mostly silent, except for some attempts at chatting by Turk. Everyone was still feeling the tension of those long days.
"I'm cold," said Linus suddenly.
Danny and Rusty looked at each other, a little surprised. Actually, it shouldn't have been surprising at all, considering that he was wearing only light shirt stained with what could have been blood. "Here, take my jacket," said Danny again, taking off his elegant jacket and draping it over Linus.
Virgil said nothing, but turned on the heating.
"How much did you pay?" asked Linus point blank.
"What?" asked Rusty in a careless voice, like they were talking about the weather.
"I said, how much did you pay? For the ransom".
"Don't worry about it", answered Rusty again.
"But..."
"I said don't worry about it". Rusty's voice didn't seem so calm anymore. He seemed almost angry when he turned to look at Linus.
Luckily Danny started talking before Linus could say something else. "Look, now you just need to see the doctor, take some medicines and get some rest. Then, when you're feeling better, we can talk about everything, if you want".
"I want to... give you the money back, you know".
"And we'll talk about that," said Danny again, smiling reassuringly at Linus. Rusty said nothing.
The truth was, that they paid a lot of money. Everybody contributed. Turk knew that, even if they didn't talk about it, that nobody wanted their money back from Linus. He didn't, and he was sure that Virgil didn't want it either. Hell, he was sure that nobody wanted their money back.
Turk's thoughts were interrupted by Rusty's voice. "Virgil. Slow down a little bit".
His brother didn't answer, but slowed down the car with a sigh. Turk hadn't even notice that Virgil was driving so fast.
Three hours later, Linus was in bed, sound asleep after Stan's medical examination, some food, water, a quick shower and strong painkillers.
But even if he was sleeping peacefully, not everyone was so peaceful.
"I want to kill them," said Rusty in a low, grumbling voice, pacing restless in the kitchen. His expression was hard, and his eyes were like steel.
"Rusty. Come on".
Rusty looked at Danny, that was staring at him. "Come on what? He has three cracked ribs and a broken hand. Plus, a lot of bruises everywhere. Plus, he's dehydrated and he didn't even remember the last time they fed him. He was locked up in a basement, beaten up and starved. Are you okay with all that?"
"You know I'm not. But you know our priority is Linus".
"Linus is taken care of".
"You know is not true. He'll need time to recover, not only physically. We need to be sure he's okay before doing anything else".
Rusty lowered his eyes. "Yeah. You're right".
Danny poured his friend some scotch, patting his shoulder. "These days have been very difficult for all of us. We all need some rest. We all need to recover, not only Linus".
Rusty nodded, closing his eyes and slowly sipping his scotch. Danny was right. Now that Linus was safe, they needed to get some rest.
That night, while Danny was walking to his room, he went to check on all of his friends. For some reason, he felt the need to be sure they were okay. The first room he checked was Virgil's room, ad it was empty. Dammit. Virgil and Turk had worked like crazy. They ran everywhere, together and alone, in search for clues. They went to spy possible suspects. At some point, Virgil was so pale that Danny thought he would have fainted. And now he wasn't sleeping?
Danny checked Turk's room, and what he saw made him smile. The Malloy twins were both asleep in the big bed. They were both completely dressed, and from their positions it looked like they were sitting on the bed talking, and at some point they fell asleep. Danny entered quietly in the room, took the comforter from the foot of the bed and covered them both, careful not to wake them up. Virgil stirred and snuggled deeper under the comforter. Danny smiled again and left. Everybody was asleep in their rooms, finally. Even Rusty. He was still a little pale, but he would have been better soon. Damn. Definitely these days had not been easy. Probably it was one of the worst week of his life. Of their lives, plural. The idea of having inadvertently sent Linus to his death was unbearable. He remembered seeing Rusty on the verge of tears, when it looked like they couldn't establish a contact with the kidnappers. Danny promised himself he wouldn't let that happen again.